Sweet sorghum is now being tapped and developed by agro-entrepreneurs as a viable source of food, fuel, feeds, and fertilizer, according to agriculture officials. They bared two local agribusiness companies that have started processing this versatile crop into various uses for large-scale commercial ventures in the next two to three years.
These two firms—Hazchem and Venvi Agro Industrial Ventures Inc. have established their respective plantations and structures to develop sweet sorghum for commercial uses, according to the Bureau of Agricultural Research (BAR) of the Department of Agriculture (DA).
Dr. Heraldo Layaoen, the national program coordinator for the DA-BAR sweet sorghum project, reported that these agribusiness companies have begun using sweet sorghum, which requires minimal time and cost to produce, as feed ingredient and are now testing it as feedstock for ethanol production.
Layaoen said that Hazchem has set up a 5.4-hectare plantation in Naujan, Oriental Mindoro. It acquires a juice concentrator, mobile can crusher and fermentation tanks to conduct trials on sweet sorghum from planting to distillation.
Venvi Agro, which operates the biggest feedmill is the largest supplier of fresh eggs in the Ilocos Region. It is testing sweet sorghum as a livestock and poultry feed.
BAR has funded nine multi-locational trials of sweet sorghum with the support of local govern-ment units (LGUs) financing institutions, said Layaoen in his report.
The DA and Pampanga Agricultural College (PAC) has likewise launched a book on the human food potentials of sweet sorghum as part of government efforts to promote the production and consumption of alternative high-value commercial crops.
The BAR-funded "Sweet Sorghum Food Products: A Com-pendium" was written by three PAC professors—Doctors Estrella Zabala, Fortunato Battad and Norman de Jesus. They officially launched the book during a recent Bureau program attended by former DA Sec. Arthur Yap, BAR Director Nicomedes Eleazar, DA Assistant Secretary Clayton Olalia and PAC President Honorio Soriano.
Eleazar said "the book contains food products from the sweet sorghum grains and stalks highlighting food products from sweet sorghum, of which 24 come from grains and one from the stalk." The book also includes valuable information such as guide planting sweet sorghum, forms of utilization, nutritional contents, and suggested sweet sorghum menu.
"Sweet sorghum is a promising cereal crop that could address problems on malnutrition and dwindling supply of alternative source of flour, an answer to the increasing cost of wheat flour," Eleazar said. Zabala, a food technologist, developed the various food products from sweet sorghum, with Battad and de Jesus providing the technical support.
Sorghum grains, according to Eleazar, are processed into flour and used as a substitute or main material of the products either as whole grain, sprout, or in ground form.
Among the potential food products developed include soups and porridge (mushroom in sorghum soup, sorghum soup, veggie-sorghum soup, sorghum porridge with chicken, sorghum porridge, sorghum-choco porridge, pepper leaves in sorghum, and sorghum con moringa).
Aside from the grains, PAC has developed vinegar from the sweet sorghum stalks.
Soriano stressed that "sweet sorghum has a huge potential as source of human food in various forms of high commercialization value. Its grains can be processed and used as alternative to rice."
In terms of production, "sweet sorghum can be grown throughout the year or at least twice a year. It needs minimal time and cost compared to other field crops. It is the only crop that provides grain and stem, which can be used to produce ethanol, sugar syrup, jaggery, flour and other food items," Soriano added.
Sweet sorghum grain is higher in protein and lower in fat than corn. The mineral composition differs only slightly from corn. Vitamin content is similar to that of white corn. A 200 grams of cooked sorghum grain is a rich source of protein, vitamin B1, B2, niacin, and iron. It is a good source of zinc, and provides 14 grams of dietary fiber. /MP
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